


My Kpop Pirate Mess

by Anonymous



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band), SHINee, SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Crack, Creampie, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dry Humping, Dry Sex, Dubious Consent, Eventual Fluff, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, Gen, Kun is Basically the Best, Light Bondage, Nipple Licking, Nipple Play, Not Beta Read, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rape/Non-con Elements, Shameless Smut, Tags May Change, WayV Still Agents of Chaos, im sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:09:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29698959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: It is 1715….Unfortunate heiress Tiye Dufort is captured by a strapping pirate lord, Captain Minho, and taken on a trip across the seas of misfortuneAKA Shameless smutty fantasy in which there is some non-con going on but it is also a comedy of errorsThe plot is going to be a mess. Total crack stuff going on. Please Take Tags and Warnings Seriously!!
Relationships: Choi Minho & Kim Kibum | Key, Choi Minho & Lee Jinki | Onew, Choi Minho & Lee Taemin, Choi Minho/Original Female Character(s), Liu Yang Yang/Original Female Character(s), Nakamoto Yuta/Original Female Character(s), Qian Kun & Everyone, Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas & Everyone, Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 10
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't know how I can defend this mess? I just kept thinking about Minho and Lucas being pirates and I'm so sorry. I have to write this out of my system. Thank you if anyone reads this. *groans in cringe forever*  
> EDIT: I added a couple tags recently! I'm terrible with tags, I'm sorry!

She cried as she was thrown into a compartment below the deck of the ship, the handkerchief tied around her mouth muffling her sobs. Tiye had snuck out of her morning lessons for a stroll by the ocean, and before she could make sense of what was going on, she’d been captured by a group of pirates, tied up and carried onto a pirate ship just out of sight from the island’s port. No amount of fighting or attempts at escape did her any good as her captures threw her onto a horse, into the lap of one of the smelly, intimidating pirates. The man had held her secure on their short ride to the ship.

Tiye had never seen pirates before in her life, she’d only ever read stories about the famed pirates who were causing the East Indian Company a lot of headaches. They sounded like a terribly brutal sort, and Tiye was in complete fear as she sat down on the floor of the rocking ship, blinking away her tears. She shut her eyes and crossed her legs in front of her as she tried to position her arms to a more comfortable position. Her captures had tied her hands together with rough, heavy ropes behind her back.

Between her arms being restricted, her mouth gagged, and her corset’s tight fit, Tiye was beginning to have a difficult time breathing. Taking a slow deep breath, Tiye tried to calm her tears, and looked around the dark room. There were a couple of small windows at the back of the room on opposite sides of the top corners of the room. There were some stained velvet curtains blocking sunlight from entering the room.

There was a heavy desk at one corner of the room, near the door that led to the set of stairs going up to the deck of the ship. The desk had stacks and rolls of maps and paper lined neatly at one side. Directly behind her, across from the door, sat a large bed, the red silk sheets looking much cleaner than Tiye had expected for a pirate’s ship. She felt bile in her throat. What was going to happen to her?

There was a commotion of feet walking and men shouting. Tiye snapped her head back around to stare at the door as she heard men talking. The voice of her capture was the first voice she could make out.

“Captain!” the man said. “We’ve found a rare treasure during our stakeout this morning. I’d say whatever you choose to do with this treasure….well, I do hope you will be pleased.”

“Make sail immediately,” came the baritone voice of the captain of the ship. “We have to sail as far west as the winds will give us.”

“Aye, captain.”

Tiye felt her heart beating faster, her spine shaking uncontrollably. If they sailed west this meant they would be sailing toward nothing but the sea for some time, and Tiye didn’t even know if her peers or family would even notice that she was missing until suppertime, and by then, half the day would have passed. Tiye felt a sob come out of her as she shut her eyes, realizing that there was little hope of escaping and ever seeing her mother or father ever again.

The door slammed, and Tiye jumped as she opened her eyes. She blinked as the rays from the sunlight coming in through the door glared into her eyes. The rainbow of dots slowly disappeared from her vision as she continued to blink, the door closing. Tiye’s eyes began adjusting to the darkness of the room again. She took uneven heavy breaths as she saw the shape of a tall and broad shouldered man standing before her.

She kicked her heels against the floor and felt her back hit the foot of the bed, and she groaned as she accidentally pinned her arms painfully against the wooden bed frame. Tiye jumped as she felt a hand cup her chin and she pulled back, resting her head against the foot of the bed as her eyes gazed into a set of clear brown eyes. The man looking at her was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on, his long fingers brushing her loose brown tendrils out of her face.

His skin was tan, contrasting against the white fabric of his tunic that hung loosely at his front, and Tiye’s cheeks flushed as she saw that he was revealing much of his chest. His tendrils of black hair fell over his eyes, and he brushed them away with his free hand. The man’s eyes studied her face carefully, and then his eyes drifted down her neck before resting on the low cut of her bodice.

“What’s your name, girl?” the man asked, his voice smooth and deep. His lips were so pink and full. “It’s a simple question. My name is Minho. All I ask is for your name, and you know my name now.”

Tiye gasped. Minho. As in the Incheon Pirate Captain who had been attacking and pillaging the East Indian Company’s ships full of imports and exports of goods from around the world. He was infamous along all the island, even a rich heiress from a family of silk traders knew of his name and reputation. If anything, the stories and drawings she’d heard and seen did this man no justice. She felt her mouth dry, realizing this beautiful man was a violent criminal who would not hesitate to harm or even kill her. His hands were gentle as he freed Tiye’s mouth.

“My name is Tiye,” she replied, taking in a few deep breaths through her mouth.

“Tiye,” Minho said softly, recognition crossing his eyes. “Tiye Dufort? Dufort is the name of the elite French traders who work with the Dutch and British here in the Indian Ocean, is it not? What a treasure you are. My men and I could wait to see how handsome a reward your parents will pay to have you safely returned to them. All we would have to do is let it be known that a particular group of pirates had found a mischievous young woman escaping her duties to stroll by the sea and captured her.”

“My father and mother will pay you handsomely if I return unharmed and I shall say nothing of my time with you and your men on this ship,” Tiye agreed immediately. She wanted to return home as soon as possible, and she knew that if her parents heard that she had been captured by pirates they would give him a large reward for her safe return. She was their only child after all.

“Or,” Minho said, a dark smile crossing his lips as the warmth disappeared from his eyes as he looked down the front of her dress shamelessly, “I take the secret of your identity to the grave with me, and I keep you in here to keep my bed warm.”

“My father will pay you so handsomely you will be able to afford as many whores as your heart desires,” Tiye said quickly. “Please, sir, I will be worth more if I am kept pure. I’m..I’m not the youngest of maidens.”

“You seem to think this will convince me to sell you off,” Minho said, running a finger along down her neck, making Tiye shiver, pressing her back up against the bed. She groaned in pain as her body pushed up against her arms, still tied up behind her. “Breasts as large as yours, the sweet scent of pears radiating from your supple body...damn the Devil. Your green eyes just make your lovely tan skin even more radiant. It’s rare to come across a beauty like yours.”

Tiye yelped loudly as Minho grabbed her by the waist and picked her up to throw her onto his bed. She cried as the weight of her body pressed down on her arms locked behind her. Despite the burning she felt in her shoulders, Tiye tried kicking her legs to keep the brutal pirate away from her, but she felt a hard slap against her thigh, and she groaned as she felt his large hands grab her thighs, pulling her body toward him.

She felt him flip her over so she was lying on her stomach, and she heard the sound of Minho moving around before feeling him unraveling the rope. As soon as Tiye felt her arms freed from the ropes, she felt Minho’s hand on her back and she heard the sound of fabric ripping. The brute was literally tearing her clothes off of her. She could do little more as the large man ripped her corset after peeling her dress off.

It was a surprise as she felt something soft and wet touch the bare skin of her back, and she gasped as she felt his tongue slide along her shoulder blades as she heard Minho ripping her chemise. She shook, her hands resting onto the bed as she shut her eyes tightly, resting her head down into the pillow beneath her. His hands ran up along her back, applying some pressure, his rough calloused hands massaging her back.

“I haven’t seen skin this smooth and unblemished in years,” he said softly. “Fuck, you rich bastards retain such beauty and luxury.”

Tiye’s body reacted to Minho’s hands reaching under her body and grabbing her breasts. No one had ever touched her there and the sensation was terrifying but also sending a hot intense surge of heat into her core. She instinctively tried squeezing her legs together, but she felt a hand touching her most intimate body part. She moaned as she felt his rough fingers slide up along her slit, this new sensation even more mind numbingly intense than when he’d pinched her nipple.

She felt his hands on her body and he flipped her over to have her flat on her back. Immediately, he dove down and wrapped his lips around her dark brown nipple, sucking hard on it. Tiye felt a sharp jolt of heat jump around her gut as Minho’s mouth continued to feast on her. The sensations were becoming too much so Tiye’s hands found his shoulders and like a fool she tried pushing him off her with as much might as she could. The pirate captain’s muscular body felt more like pushing up against a boulder, and he laughed at Tiye’s pathetic attempt at fighting him off.

She could do little more than let him do as he pleased as he pinned her wrists down over her head and kissed her. Tiye cried against his lips, unable to believe this was her first kiss. The novels she’d read where a princess would get her true love’s first kiss, always a prince or great hero of low birth, had given Tiye deep desires to save her lips for the only man who would ever get to know the feel of her lips. Instead, her lips were being roughly nipped at and licked as Minho’s mouth fought with hers to get access to her tongue.

He laughed against her lips before his mouth found her neck, and Tiye blushed as her body reacted to the sensation of Minho’s mouth sucking on her sensitive neck by rolling her hips up against his. He groaned into her neck, and she felt his hands reach between their bodies and she began panting heavily as she realized he was untying his breeches, starting to tug them down. It was humiliating enough that she’d lost her first kiss to this bastard, how would she be able to live with herself if she had to give her maidenhood up to him?

“Look at me,” Minho said once his mouth left her neck. Their eyes locked as she felt his hand pull her thigh up, and something pressed into her. It was heavy and the pressure she felt deep inside of her was sharp. She gave a cry as the pain of Minho’s hard manhood invaded her body. She felt him shiver before his lips captured hers in a kiss that made her stomach jump up.

A strange ripple of radiating heat grew as she felt Minho’s hips thrust against hers, his thick manhood pushing back inside of her. The pain of the heavy pressure stung again, but the strange heat was growing, almost taking over the pain. Tiye’s lips returned Minho’s kiss, and her mouth opened as she wanted to feel his tongue touch hers. His tongue licked hers as she applied a little pressure up against his, and she moaned as Minho’s lips released hers.

He moaned as he gave a harsh thrust into Tiye, she cried out as the pain of his cock driving deeper into her took over her body. His heavy thrusts continued and soon Tiye gave a shocked gasp as she felt Minho’s hot seed spill inside of her. His grip around her wrists did not loosen as his tongue licked her nipples. If he spilled his seed inside of her that meant she could possibly be carrying his child any moment now. And what would a pirate do to a woman who was carrying a baby in her belly? The way his teeth were grinding on her nipple caused Tiye to forget herself for a moment and she bucked her hips as she gave out a moan.

He seemed satisfied as he released her and got up off the bed, turning his back to her as he walked over to his desk and picked up a flask. He uncorked his flask and took a drink. Tiye slowly slid off the bed, taking a step only when the ship would sway and creak against the waves of the sea. The pain between her legs tried to distract her focus, but Tiye was terrified of spending another second with this man. Her fate was in a freefall and she would rather risk running out and dying by her own choices rather than sit in this room for Minho to choose her fate for her.

Right as her fingers closed around the door knob, Minho gave a dry chuckle. He turned around, setting his flask down, and watched as Tiye turned the door knob. It was locked, and she looked over to see Minho holding a large golden skeleton key, implying that the only way to unlock the door was with the key. He set it down on his desk, and picked up what looked like a bundle of a thin white rope. Tiye gasped and tried to run away from Minho’s reach, but his arms were long and very strong. His finger easily closed around her arm and he pulled her roughly toward him.

She tried clawing at his arms and wrists as he tied her wrists together with a much softer set of rope, but he knew what he was doing as he created a thick knot that she could not even try to slip off. The scratches she left on him left him unfazed as he tied Tiye at one end of the bed, the rope tied intricately to the poster of the bed. He pushed her face forward against the bed, kicking her legs apart with his feet. Her feet were planted firmly on the wooden floor, though the way the ship swayed, she wasn’t sure if she could keep standing much longer.

“If you keep acting out, we’ll just come to find out how much it takes to break you,” he said in a measured tone. He gave an appreciative groan as Tiye felt Minho rub his manhood up against her buttocks, and she tugged her arms but only felt the ropes cutting into her skin. She groaned as she felt Minho’s thick cock enter again, and her legs gave way as he thrust into her harshly. He gave a laugh as they fell onto the bed, his cock sliding deep into her.

Tiye cried out in pain as she felt him give a couple of harsh pumps into her, each thrust going in as deep as he could. He came much quicker the second time around, spilling his seed into her after only half a dozen thrusts, but the way he’d handled her body sent Tiye a clear message. She belonged to him, and he would do as he pleased with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiye has nothing left, and continues to be locked up by Minho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated to add in new characters, but I don't know if Taemin and Onew are supporting characters or just cameo characters who come and go, so IDK how often they're going to show up! Again, this fic is a mess.

Tiye was born into a family of wealth. Her father’s family came from a lineage of French silk traders, and her mother’s family came from a lineage of Indian spice and silk traders. She’d been raised on a small, rich island with no one for company except her nanny, tutor, and the palace staff. After 24 years of living on the island, Tiye had spent nearly 2 decades dreaming of leaving her home. Most heiresses were married by the time their 24th birthday arrived, but Tiye’s mother had fallen ill before she was to go to Paris with her Aunt Mavis for her debut at 17.

After 3 years of sitting by her mother’s side, praying day and night for God not to take her mother away, Tiye was relieved to see her mother recover to good health. Her mother’s health seemed to have changed her parents. Tiye’s mother insisted she remain at home on the island and continue her education at home with her tutor. It wasn’t until Aunt Mavis came for a visit soon after her 24th birthday that Tiye’s mother caved, and agreed to let Tiye leave with Aunt Mavis to Paris in preparation to find her a suitable husband.

But all of that had been taken away from her in the blink of an eye. She’d grown tired of her maths, and convinced her tutor she just wanted to read some books. As the old man left her in the study, Tiye had crawled out the window and made her way down toward the shores of behind the palace. It was when she made it to her spot near a willow tree that Tiye felt rough hands grab her from behind. They’d gagged and bound her so quickly, she had no room to process it.

Minho had left Tiye to sleep in the bed by herself after he’d spent hours playing with her body. After untying her hands free he’d spent some time sitting in bed, caressing her body, studying every inch of her body with the focused, intense eyes of his. He’d complimented her physical traits, leaving no description of her body unremarked upon. He’d even kissed and caressed the birthmark on the inside of her left thigh. “The Dark Palm” was what her mother had named it, always remarking to Tiye that she was fortunate that the palm sized brown mark was in a place in which no man would see until she was wed.

“A hexagon,” Minho had said when his finger traced the shape of her birthmark. His thumb caressed the mark and he had licked his lips before smiling. “Even your blemishes are beautiful.”

Tiye had felt bashful, and shifted to try to hide her birthmark. She would not speak to him if she could help it. He could speak with a sweet tongue and tender eyes as his fingers gave her body lovely strokes, but he’d taken everything from her, even her dignity. Minho had laid his body over her once more and took his time to find his peak all the while kissing her body. Once he had finally spilled his seed into her a third time, Minho put his breeches and boots on before leaving her alone on the bed.

She slept fitfully through the night as she kept waking up in hopes that her day had all been a dream, only to be met with sharp pains throughout her body, a reminder of what Minho had done to her body. At some point, Tiye could no longer lie in bed, and got up. She found Minho’s tunic on the floor next to the heap of torn fabrics that used to be her clothing, and put it on.

His odor wafted into her nose, permeating from the tunic, and she groaned in frustration. Dirt, musk, the salt ocean air, and a lingering scent that reminded Tiye of the porridge her nanny had fed her when she had fallen ill as a child. Even when she was alone, he remained on her. She walked slowly to his desk, her legs and core feeling sore. The desk was neat, and all the drawers had key holes. Of course, Minho was not a fool. He’d cleared his maps and papers out of the room, too.

The door opened and Tiye stepped back to press herself up against the wall, her hands covering her chest as she hugged herself. Minho walked in, wearing nothing but his boots and breeches, carrying a plate in his hand and a goblet in his other hand. He set the plate of food down on the bed before turning around to close the door. Tiye watched him carefully as he locked the door, and then put the key into one of his boots after he kicked his boots off.

“You must eat,” he said, sitting down on the bed. “Come, eat.”

She remained rooted where she stood, staring at Minho rest his arm onto his knee with the goblet of wine resting in his hand. He raised his free hand and beckoned her toward him.

“Don’t treat me like a pet,” she said, feeling heat rise in her neck. “I called my cat to me like that.”

“You ate nothing yesterday, and that is my fault,” he said, his eyes moving away from her gaze at the final four words. Was the notorious Pirate lord apologizing?

“Why do you care?” she asked, her eyes fixed on the goblet in his hand. She realized her throat was extremely dry. “The moment my life ends you will find another woman to keep your bed warm.”

“You’re worth more alive than you are dead.” he replied. “You may have given your maidenhood to me, but you are still a Dufort.”

“What are you going to do to me?” she asked, hugging herself tighter.

“I want you to come eat,” he said. “After you eat, I will have the ladies on my ship come clean you and your chamber pot.”

“You have ladies on your pirate ship?”  
  
“Aye, they’re just as much pirates as the men,” he replied. “All we have for clothing on this ship are breeches and tunics. I apologize, my queen. We don’t have any dresses to replace the one I destroyed.”

“Are your lady pirates as brutish as you?” she asked, feeling her feet make small steps toward Minho. She was thirsty and she felt him drawing her in, like he had a spell on her.

He said nothing as Tiye reached her hand out and took the wooden goblet. She took a long drink of the wine. The feel of liquid in her mouth gave her great relief, and she sat down next to Minho as she took another large gulp in the most mannerless way. This tart wine tasted better than any wine she’d ever drunk before, quenching her thirst.

“We were able to gather some fresh fruits when we were visiting your island,” he said as he held up a slice of mango and fed it to her. Tiye chewed the mango in silence. His demeanor was completely different from their initial meet not just 24 hours ago. She didn’t understand the Pirate lord, and she wasn’t sure what he wanted with her.  
***

For the next 8 days, Tiye spent most of her time in Minho’s cabin, alone with nothing for company except a few poetry books she’d found under his bed. Minho would come feed her twice every day, feeding her and giving her the minimal amount of conversation she wanted. She’d been impressed at meeting the three ladies who came to her with warm damp washcloths to help Tiye scrub some grime off her skin before they braided her hair, explaining to her that keeping long hair in braids was the simplest method in hair maintenance. Minho left her to sleep alone in bed, and he hadn’t touched her body since the first day his men had captured her.

After10 days on the ship, Tiye woke up to see Minho sitting at the foot of the bed. She sat up in bed, and pressed her back up against the poster of the bed. She knew he’d been waiting for her to let her defenses down, and then cruelly force himself on her again. He’d been a fool to feed her and leave her to rest, Tiye was stronger now and no longer tied up. She was going to fight him, and even if she lost, she knew that she would not stop fighting so long as her body could move.

“Get up,” he commanded, and stood.

Tiye’s eyes fell to the whip rolled up in his left hand, and shook her head, pulling the sheets over her body. She’d never been whipped, but had witnessed her mother grab a whip and demanded a servant be punished a few times when she was a child. Her nanny had explained to her what happened when a servant misbehaved and the whip was taken out.

The doors swung open and a couple of the crew members came and took Tiye by her arms and followed Minho out of his cabin, up the stairs to the deck, and they continued walking as Tiye’s eyes were blinded by the light of the sun. She groaned and begged for Minho not to hurt her as she tried to drag her feet, but the men dragging her off the ship lifted her with ease.

They were walking on a boardwalk on an island she had never seen before. They were walking away from land and toward the end of the boardwalk that led toward the ocean. Nothing made sense to Tiye, but she felt the taste of bile in her mouth and tears were forming in her eyes and she began to panic, afraid of what was to come. Minho turned around, motioned for his men to let her go and then forcefully put the whip into her hands.

He turned around, and gave some space between them. Minho’s crewmen followed their leader, and Tiye was startled as one of his men took out a knife and cut the back of Minho’s tunic, ripping it to bare Minho’s back. His men grabbed his arms and held him in place as he fell onto his knees.

“Forgive me, Tiye,” she heard Minho say. “I shouldn’t have taken you for myself.”

She stared at the whip in her hands and then at Minho’s back. She’d seen the scars on his back before, but under the bright sunlight, she saw every scar on his back. Minho had been given lashings plenty before, and Tiye thought of the servants her mother had ordered to have whipped. Was Minho asking her to whip him?

“I can’t,” she said, throwing the whip to the ground. “I find lashings to be brutal and an unjust form of punishment.”

“Beat him,” the shorter of the crewmen said. “Minho deserves to be beaten.”

“Keep it up, Taemin, and I’m throwing you over,” Minho replied, glaring up at his crew man.

“You’re not my captain anymore,” Taemin replied. “Onew and I agreed to join you on the stakeout without our ships, but now that we’re back I don’t have to follow your orders anymore.”

“You did insist on having her whip you,” the other man said. Tiye guessed that this man was Onew. “Should I give you the lashings, then?”

“No!” Minho exclaimed as he pushed his friends’ hands off him and he stood up. Tiye hadn’t seen Minho lose his composure before, and there was something strange about the way she saw Minho show some form of vulnerability. It was like watching a beast childishly swat at butterflies. “I’ll handle this on my own. You’ve had your fun, but before we depart, this lives and dies with us.”

“Good luck,” Taemin said as he placed a gentle hand on Tiye’s shoulder before he walked away toward shore.

“We’ll see each other again,” Onew said as he too placed a hand on her shoulder before following Taemin to give Tiye and Minho some privacy.

Once they were alone, Tiye looked around. Aside from the island and the ship, they were surrounded by the blue ocean, seeming to go on endlessly. Even if she had been a good swimmer, where would Tiye swim off to? And even if she found land, what would she say or do to convince anyone to help her? Tiye was left with nothing. Minho walked to her and took her hands into his.

“I have to confess something to you,” he said. “You may very well want to lash me after you hear of this. I was hired to dispose of you.”

“What?” Tiye asked.

“I know a man who asked me personally to take care of a job,” he said. “He wanted me to find you and make it seem like my men found you and kidnapped you. Once on the ship, I was supposed to dispose of you, but when you told me your name…” Minho looked away for a moment, seeming to weigh out his options. “As I’ve said before, you’re worth more alive than dead.”

“You plan to alert my parents?” Tiye asked hopefully, though she knew it was false hope. “My father will still pay a handsome reward.”

“No,” Minho said. “The man who hired me, he paid me handsomely. I’m supposed to give evidence that I’ve properly disposed of you before I receive the rest of what is owed to me.”

“You will not harm me!” Tiye said as she took a step back.

“No harm will come to you!” Minho said as he grabbed her wrists with his hands. He pulled her into his arms, trapping her arms between their bodies as he held her securely in his arms. “Listen to me! Someone paid me handsomely to quietly kill you.”

“And no harm will come to me?” she demanded sarcastically.

“Listen!” he said roughly, grabbing her face with his hands. “We were both tricked. I will not be tricked to do another man’s dirty job. And you, you need to find out who wanted you dead and why. I see a great fire in you, Tiye. Harness it, and burn those who have wronged you. Burn those who let me brutalize you.”

A heat came over her, making Tiye find it hard to breathe, and she used all her might to push Minho off her. He released his hold on her, looking startled at her strength, and Tiye slapped Minho across the face. He shook his head with his eyes open wide in surprise. She threw a few fists into his chest before feeling her adrenaline crash, and she fell into his arms, feeling angry tears roll down her cheeks.

“Who told you to do that?” she spat out bitterly.

“I apologize, I regret it,” he said, and she wanted to slap him once more as he planted a tender kiss to her forehead. Instead she cried into his chest.

Being kidnapped by pirates had thrown her world spinning and not a fortnight later, her entire life was thrown into a spiral of chaos once more. Tiye could not for the life of her understand where her life had gone so horribly wrong. She’d had nothing going on for over 2 decades, and now there was too much happening that she could not even trust her own thoughts. All she had was this man who had taken everything from her.

“What do I do now?” she asked once her tears subsided. She’d drenched the front of his tunic.

“In 5 days’ time, I’m heading north to retrieve the rest of my payment,” Minho replied. “Once I meet the man, I’ll be closer to finding out who hired me to dispose of you, and once we do, we’ll find out why you’re wanted dead.”

Tiye looked up at Minho and she had nothing to say. What did she have outside of Minho? She knew she had no other options. All Tiye had was the mystery of who hired Minho to dispose of her and why? She let him kiss her, and she thought, maybe Minho would indeed be the only man to ever know the feel of her lips. With her world in utter chaos, being with Minho was the only thing that made sense to Tiye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiye has to figure what to do with her life now

Tiye was impressed at the efficiency at which Minho made a firepit and started a fire up for them. They didn’t stray far from the dock. Minho’s second in command steered the ship out for repairs with his crew to a different location, leaving Tiye and Minho alone on the secluded island. A small hut made of clay and wood was nestled at the edge of the dry land, which sloped up gently from the white sands to a grassy incline, the large boulders blocking any potential waves from hitting the hut during high tides.

“Is this your home?” Tiye asked when she took her boots off and sat in the sand nearby the fire.

“This island is more of a resting spot between jobs,” he replied. “We’ll be here for a few days.”

He walked over to a coconut tree, gracefully climbed up the tree with ease with nothing but his bare hands and feet, pulled out a large knife and cut down a few large coconuts. He slid down the tree with a gentle landing, and picked up the bundle of green coconuts before setting them down by a large flat boulder not too far from the fire pit. Tiye’s hand touched her chest gently as she watched Minho use his knife and bare hands to remove the tough outer layer of the coconuts. She was feeling very warm despite the ocean currents blowing wind throughout the whole island. Once he reached the brown fibrous layer, he peeled as much off as he could before cutting off the top of the coconut with a swift slice of his knife.

Holding 2 of the coconuts he’d cut open Minho sat beside Tiye and handed her one of the fibrous brown coconuts. The last time Tiye drank coconut water straight out of the coconut shell had been when she was a child. She’d had a lesson about the local foods on the island, and her Nanny Diane had presented Tiye a coconut much like the one Minho had handed her. As a child, she’d found the coconut water thick for a drink and tasting like wood, but had been delighted to see the coconut and was much more interested in the coconut flesh.

“Thank you,” she said, her eyes drifting over to Minho.

She mindlessly licked her lips as she watched him tilt his head back, slurping the coconut water loudly as he drained his shell. Was she mad to be marveling at the man who had ruined her life? Was she mad to dislike him as much as she lusted for him? She barely knew the man and yet she had complex feelings for him. Tiye thought of the kiss they shared earlier, and wondered what plans Minho had for her.

“You should drink,” Minho said when he looked at her. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his tunic.

“What is going to happen to me?” she asked.

“You will remain at my side,” he said, shifting to sit closer to her. “I believe there to be more than just one reason as to why the world brought us together.”

“Am I to believe that you are a pirate who believes in fate?” she couldn’t help asking. She felt heat hit her face as he smiled in response.

“Perhaps it’s a sign of aging,” he said. “My 30th birthday is approaching soon enough.” He held his hand out to her, and she felt something loosen in her chest. Holding the coconut in her right hand she placed her left hand over his palm, and he closed his fingers over her hand, his hand much larger than hers. “I will not lie, our need to seek out the truth of this deceit has brought us together, and I believe that we are meant to remain together, always.”

“Is this how a pirate proposes for a hand in marriage?” she asked, feeling her heart beating faster and her entire body growing very warm.

“You are enjoying this,” he replied with a chuckle, squeezing her hand tighter. “Marriage is not a word I know, so I suppose I am asking you to be my woman.”   
“Your woman? I shall have to settle for your brutish vocabulary, I suppose.”

“You can always reject my proposal, my queen.”

“Queen?” she said with a laugh. “Yes, a queen who drinks coconut water directly from the shell while she is dressed up in a dead pirate’s clothes.”

She drank the coconut water at last, and shut her eyes as she savored the refreshing feeling of water in her mouth. Every element of the coconut water, even the slightly woodsy flavor, was refreshing. Feeling the ocean breeze with her feet in the sand and drinking fresh coconut water, Tiye felt relaxed and free. There was nothing here except for her and Minho.

“Make me your queen, then,” she said when she opened her eyes. Whatever life she had before now was gone, and Tiye planned to use Minho’s Pirate Lord powers and resources to find out who had really taken her life from her. She’d spent her entire life trained to be a dutiful wife to a powerful man, and wasn’t the infamous Incheon Pirate Lord Minho a powerful man?

She set the coconut down in the sand, and reached over to touch Minho’s lips with her fingers. They were soft and damp, and she tilted her head up to kiss him. He kissed her, and pulled her closer to him. They untied each other’s breeches, and he laid her down on her back as he removed her breeches off of her. His own breeches followed, and she welcomed the heat of his body once he laid on top of her.

They kissed, and she paid attention to the way his hands caressed her body as they slipped under her tunic. His fingers were gentle, and he’d ask her softly between kisses if she wanted more before pinching her nipples with more force. Once they made love, Tiye held Minho close to her, her lips wanting his as he thrust in and out of her gently with a steady rhythm. Her legs squeezed his hips when she felt his cock twitch inside of her. He moaned her name into her neck when he came, and, again, chose to spill his seed inside of her. They laid in the sand with their bodies connected for some time as they did little more than stare into each other's eyes and stroke each other’s arms.

She saw lights shining bright in his eyes, his gaze down at her so sensual and soft. Tiye lifted her head up and kissed Minho. Never in a million years could she ever imagine such a situation for herself to be in, and yet, she felt freer lying under Minho than she’d ever felt in her life. Finally, he pulled out of her, and they sat up together. He brushed her curly tendrils away from her face, and rested his hand on her cheek. She felt heat hit her cheeks as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. He held her close, and she shut her eyes as she tried to set aside a restless feeling that was buzzing dully at the back of her mind.

***

Ge Island was near the border of what Minho had called the “Pirate Bubble”. There was a cluster of small islands that remained undiscovered, save for the pirates. The islands were used as a safe haven for the pirates to come to rest, but she didn’t know how big the Bubble was, where their general location was, or how the whole thing was operated. Given that Minho and Tiye had spent 4 days alone on the small island uninterrupted it was a well run operation by her estimates. With the discovery of the Pirate Bubble, Tiye came to understand that some of the pirates worked together, and that was a reason as to why the East Indian Company had a difficult time gaining any advances on the pirates.

Ge Island barely passed as an island, as it had just 3 palm trees growing on the small white sandy beach, parts of it breaking off into boulders and large rocks that blue crabs crawled around in large numbers. The island could be no bigger than a quarter of a mile in width and length, the northmost corner of the island was covered in large slabs of rigid boulders. Nestled between 2 of the trees was a shack with a single table set in front of it. Inside the shack were 3 people busy prepping food and tea as the tea master sat between the guests.

Minho and the man who had set up the job to have Tiye murdered sat across from each other on the dark wooden table, and it was made clear that Minho was the man of higher rank when he arrived and the tea master immediately walked over to greet Minho and his guest. The other man came alone and had to wait for Minho to be seated first before being addressed. The man was of a bulky build, and he looked rather intimidating though he had a relaxed demeanor as he greeted Minho and the tea master.

It’d only been 5 days since she discovered that there was a plot to kill her, and she felt like a different person from the frightened young woman who was dragged off a pirate ship. She stood behind Minho as he and the man shared their first sip of tea together. The man had his long black hair tied back, falling halfway down his back. It was a trivial thing, but seeing this stranger's hair made her miss her long locks.

When she and Minho prepared for the meeting, that meant Tiye had to die. Minho said the truth of his trip to Tiye’s home as well as her true identity were only known by the 2 of them and 3 of Minho’s closest allies. Tiye chose to take up the identity of Q, her private joke with Minho, who had picked up the habit of calling her “Queen”. Tiye decided that Q was born as a Turkish orphan who had recently worked her way into Minho’s crew.

Her hair had been a part of her old identity, so that first night together on the island, Q had cried as Minho cut her long wavy brown tresses off. Her hair fell just below her chin now, though it was hidden under a large brown hat, and she wore the same clothes as the other pirates, a large coat over a tunic and breeches with well worn boots. When Q caught her reflection in the waters before their departure to Ge Island, she’d been surprised to see that indeed, there was no trace of Tiye left, save for the green eyes and naturally brown skin, but among pirates who sailed the seas she blended in. She was no longer a proper lady from wealth. Now she was just another pirate doing business in the seas.

“How was your trip to Hong Kong?” Minho asked the man after their first sip of tea.

“Who’s that?” the man asked, nodding his head toward Q, behind Minho’s right shoulder.

“Q, this is Wu, a business partner I know from China,” Minho said. “Wu, this is Q. She’s new to my crew. Do you want her to join us too, or did you want us to get to business?”

“All right, all right,” Wu said, throwing his hands up before him in a placating manner, “I admire your leadership skills. Your recruits grow by the day, and it’s admirable, that’s all. Now, where’s your proof that the job was complete?”

Minho motioned for Q to come forward. She handed him the torn dress and corset, which had been altered with pig’s blood to tell a gruesome tale. Minho also had a lock of Tiye’s hair tied up in a braid, and he handed it to Wu. Minho explained that Wu’s boss believed in a superstition that the locks of hair from a wealthy woman gave the carrier good luck. A lock of her old hair was not only a gift, but a deep gesture of respect.

“Onew and Taemin witnessed the disposal,” Minho said.

“She must have been a fighter,” Wu said casually as he took the items and threw them into a sack. He pulled out a large bag and threw it onto the table. The teacups clattered loudly as the weight of the gold shook the table. Minho hadn’t lied about being paid handsomely for the job. Whoever wanted Tiye dead held a high position, and they had been eager to get the job done.

“Before we finish our tea,” Minho said, sitting up straight, “I have to say, the girl was a beauty. We also took quite a lot of expensive jewelry from her.”

“It’s a pity my boss didn’t allow me to go with you,” Wu said, nodding with enthusiasm at the crab legs they were being served. The crab legs were smothered with garlic and lemon juices, the smell of the food making Q hungry. “I could do with finding some jewelry of my own.”

“Is your boss not paying you enough?”

“Don’t go telling people that,” Wu said, giving Minho an annoyed look. “Next thing you know my boss hears it and I won’t be able to eat crab legs with you anymore. I just meant, I’m tired of being the messenger. I should’ve become a pirate, not a hoodlum who works for a slumlord.”

“I can’t always keep a secret,” Minho said, cracking one of the crab legs open and pulling out a small sliver of meat. “You’re better off praising your boss a bit more.”

“He’s not even really my boss, you know,” Wu said. He sucked the meat out of the crab leg in his hand, and Q took a mental note that perhaps Minho was not as great of a brute as she had initially thought. He was a civilized gentleman compared to Wu. “We grew up together and he took credit for a job I thought of. And now, it’s my job to do all the messenger work.”

“Wu, you sound restless,” Minho said as he picked up his cup. "I would endorse a new way of thinking to help you. Would your boss be interested in new business opportunities?”

“Hey,” Wu said, sitting up straight, “what business opportunities? I would be interested in them, too.”

“Exactly,” Minho said with a grin. “That’s just it, Wu. You will be the one to help both your boss and me. You may one day have your own ship and be greater than a slumlord. But I know we need to have a meeting with your boss to discuss expanding all of our business opportunities.”

“Do you say this as yourself or as a whole?”

“I say this as myself, for now,” Minho said, leaning back in his seat. “If your boss prefers fewer hands touching the pot, I can work with that. But, as you know, I do have a good network of partners. We don’t let just anyone into our operations.”

“Give me some time, and I’ll see if I can organize a meeting,” Wu said after finishing the crab legs. "I'll be in contact."

The men departed and once Minho and Q were on their small rowboat, rowing their way back to the island they’d been staying on, Minho praised Q for doing a good job. He asked her if she recognized him, but she had never seen Wu before in her life.

“Do you think he recognized me?” she asked, remembering Wu immediately noticing her.

“If he did, he wouldn’t have been able to hold his composure,” Minho replied. “Wu loves women, but his greatest fear is women he’s wronged. Since you only merely distracted him, I think it’s safe to say Wu has no idea who you are.”

“Do you know who his boss is?”

“A childhood friend of his. Wu’s boss is the one who can give us the answer as to who plotted for your murder. He might not know why, though.”

“How long will it take for us to hear back from Wu?”

“I haven’t the slightest clue,” he said. “How are you?”

“I’m with you,” she said, smiling. “I am well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I know there are no expectations from anyone but I just want to say I SWEAR in the next chapter a lot of crazy hijinks will finally come to play. I SWEAR!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 10 months have passed and Tiye has fully transformed into lady Pirate Q...

She secured her hair up with a golden pin, and the decorative diamond encrusted chrysanthemum weighed her hair down as it sat prettily at the top of her head. After almost a year of being with Minho, Q was still working on her quest for the truth. She wished for the end to come already. She still had no idea who set up the plot to kill her, and she was restless.

“You look like you could kill a man,” Minho said, standing behind her as he finished tying up her corset. He cupped her left breast and planted a kiss on her neck.

“We’re leaving soon,” she said softly, though she reached back and stroked his cheek. “I asked for your help, not for you to manhandle me.”

“And I’ve helped,” he replied before kissing her neck again. "I'm just appreciating your body, Queen." Both his hands were massaging her breasts, and as his fingers tried to tug her breasts out from her clothing, she swatted his hands away.

“Stop before we can’t,” she said with a soft chuckle. Though Q had been prepared to be loyal to Minho, she hadn't been sure if she could ever open her heart to him. After learning how to fight with a sword and throw knives as they sailed the seas together, Q came to respect and appreciate Minho. He taught her how to be self reliant and trusted her to do dangerous tasks successfully, and now, after confessing her love to him a fortnight ago, the pair were always drunk with love.

They wore their masks due to the soiree being a costume party. Guests were expected to arrive with masks on as part of the festivities. Minho’s mask was a golden lion, the mask covering his eyes and nose. He wore a red coat with gold threaded embroidery embellishing the sleeves and collar. Q smiled at the sight of her lover looking much more regal than she had ever seen him in her life. She wore a gold mask with black lace trimming to pair with her red silk dress. Her costume was to match Minho’s; she liked to pretend she was the rose in which softened the great lion. They were playing the roles of a married couple after all.

Minho brought along half a dozen of his best crew members, excluding his close partners and Q. Wu and his business partner, Kash (though Kash was the one who always deliberated the final decisions between him and Wu), were going to bring along their own crew of half a dozen men. They were planning on a heist at a gambling hall that was hosting a birthday soiree for a wealthy Duke from England in Hong Kong.

The heist was a job Kash asked Minho to do with him, promising the reward to be a big payout. When Minho and Kash first met, Kash and Wu were impressed at the loot Minho’s crew came home with when they joined Minho on a voyage out to attack an East Indian Company ship heading out to Portugal. Hong Kong was a good stream for selling off the goods they'd come away with, so Kash and Wu began making more money than they'd dreamed possible. The voyage had been a way for Minho to try to gain some trust from Kash.

The gambling hall heist was the 7th job Minho was doing with Kash. It was easy for Minho to get onto Kash’s good side. Kash was a charismatic man with a laid back demeanor, much like Wu. Q knew the men played up their laid back attitudes to have others underestimate them, so she’d been nervous about the job. As always, Minho assured her that there was little to worry about, though.

Her years of learning how to socialize at soirees of the titled wealth meant Q would be convincing as an elegant heiress out on a night of fun with her handsome beau, drawing attention away from the back of the gambling hall, where all the money was being kept and counted. Taemin and Wu had worked together for weeks on figuring out how many people operated in the back, and they’d been confident that they would be able to get past the guards to get to the money.

As much as Q wanted to just beat the truth out of Kash, Minho had to remind her that there were bosses Kash had to answer to. They also had to take into consideration the network of people who were employed by Kash or operated with Kash throughout Hong Kong. If Kash disappeared without word with no one to take his role, there would be a lot of powerful people who would start asking questions. Q didn’t care about the chaos that would ensue, but she knew it mattered to Minho and his business partners. It would be better to make an ally out of Kash and quietly collect information from him.

Their arrival at the gambling hall was a quiet one since everyone filtered into the hall in small clusters. Minho and Q walked toward the Craps table and Minho threw his hand up to play. They were going to distract the gambling hall by playing a dramatic game of Craps. Minho was skilled at cheating any and all games, Craps was no exception.

“Blow on it for good luck, my love,” Minho said as he held his altered dice out for Q, subtly sliding the legitimate dice up his sleeve. His grin was carefree and adoring. He was playing his role of a wealthy gambler well.

“Good luck, dear,” she said sweetly before blowing softly onto the dice. She scanned the crowd surrounding them, and was glad to see that most of the guests were playing games near the Craps table.

The game didn’t matter, but it was still thrilling to go with the crowd as everyone cheered at Minho continually roll numbers that rewarded him with more money. Soon, more guests began crowding around and joined in on the loud cheering. Many hands began throwing money down, and Q blew on the dice once more as Minho grinned at her expectantly. It was fun to pretend to be a basic couple who had nothing better to do than play games.

As the crowd at the Craps table grew, Q looked out for the signal from Taemin that the job was done. After some time, when Minho was still carrying the crowd on by enthusiastically asking everyone to applaud him for good luck, Q saw Taemin quietly exit from a set of doors at the far west corner of the gambling hall. He casually put his hat on before tapping the rim of his black leather hat twice. The job was done.

“We shall have a lavish holiday if you win again, dear!” Q said loudly, her signal to Minho to wrap up the game.

“Another blow, my love,” Minho said adoringly. She grinned and gave a soft blow onto the dice. He rolled and landed a pair of Snake Eyes, and they both groaned with the crowd as this meant Minho had finally lost. He kindly stepped aside and let a new gambler step forth to take a turn at playing the game.

“Excuse me, miss,” a man in a red mask said, as he stepped before Minho and Q when they exited the gambling hall. His mask was elaborate as feathers were attached to the mask, fanning out like a bird’s wings, the beak covering his nose a bright gold. The man was dressed as a phoenix. “I believe you dropped this.”

Q saw the man hold up a ruby encrusted earring, and touched her left earlobe. Indeed, it had fallen off. Before she could reach out to retrieve it, Minho grabbed her arms and said, “Go!” before taking hold of her right hand and began to rush them away from the thin man in the phoenix mask.

“How many times have I told you not to let anyone distract you?” Minho began to lecture but they were stalled by a crowd of young couples excitedly leaving the dancing hall.

“You didn’t warn me others are scheming too!” Q replied.

“Always stay alert!” Minho said.

She was about to tell him that he was not making the situation any better, but a group of young women cut through them and Q lost sight of Minho. The job was supposed to be easy, and now it was becoming a bother. In truth, Q was stupid to forget that most muggers lured victims by tricking them with kindness. The earring trick was one of the first things Minho had taught her, and now she felt foolish for falling for it.

Pushing past the crowd, Q found herself close to the entrance of the gambling hall again, and ducked to avoid the man in the phoenix mask. She saw him scanning the crowd, most likely to look for a new set of targets. As she turned around, she breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Minho from the back in his red jacket and gold mask, looking toward the front doors.

“Dear,” she said as she took hold of his hand. Minho jumped when Q touched his wrist. He looked down at Q and smiled at her, his face half covered in the shadows. “We should leave before things take a turn for the worse.”

Wordlessly, they exited through the front doors, though Q stopped when she felt the hand she was holding intertwine their fingers together. Minho’s hand felt different, much smoother than she was used to, and somehow as if his fingers were slimmer. She reached over and pulled Minho’s mask off. She was startled as she saw a young stranger with a mischievous grin staring at her. His large eyes, big lips and tall stature could easily confuse most people into thinking this other man to be her Pirate Lord lover. His face was longer than Minho’s and though Minho looked young for a grown man, this man before her was obviously younger than Minho, perhaps having only become a man in recent years.

“Who in the hell are you?” Q blurted out, trying to take her hand out of the man’s hold. She realized the gold mask the man wore was of a gargoyle, not a lion.

“Whoever you want me to be, my lovely honey pot,” the man said in a low gravelly voice. He pushed Q's body up against the side of the building, the two of them hidden in the dark, and wrapped an arm around her waist. She could tell now that the man may have been tall like Minho, but his body was slimmer than Minho’s. The scent of oranges and tobacco invaded her nostrils as the man buried his face into her neck, attempting to seduce her with a kiss on her skin.

“How old are you, boy?” Q asked, placing her free hand on the man’s chest to try to push him off of her. By God, this man was made of steel, his body feeling solid as her hand pushed his shoulder.

“Old enough to know how to take care of a woman as beautiful as you,” the man replied. He caught Q’s hand as she raised her hand to try to hit him, and then gave a loud guffaw. A moment later, there were sounds of marching boots, and the man tensed as he pulled her body close to his. “Shh. Guards.”

Her hands could only hold onto his shoulders as the man wrapped his arms around her waist. If they pretended to be a couple in an intimate embrace they were more likely to be left alone. Once the guards rushed past them and out of earshot, Q and the young man stared at each other.

“Why are you hiding from the guards?” he asked her.

“I could ask you the same,” she replied. “Release me or you shall suffer the consequences of manhandling a pirate.”

“Pirate?” the man asked, his hold on her tightening. He grinned, and gave an excited chuckle. Before either could say another word a door behind them in the shadows slammed open.

“Don’t worry,” the man whispered to her, holding her securely in his embrace. “We’re safe.”

“Oy! Lovers!” a man screamed at them.

“Run,” Q ordered under her breath.

The man gripped on tightly to her wrist and the pair dashed away from the guards, using the dark shadows to their advantage. Q’s mask began to slip off, and she gripped onto it as her partner pulled them down to hide behind some bushes. She made shushing noises as she ducked down. A pair of guards in red coats ran past them, and Q shut her eyes to thank God for sparing her.

Not a second later she heard an audible, “Oomph,” behind her, and she turned her head over to see that the young man had fallen flat onto his back. She was about to shush him and duck closer to him, but felt her foot catch onto a lumpy tree root and she fell on top of the man, the two of them giving out loud groans as Q felt the air in her lungs leave her body.

“Over here!” she heard a guard say.

Before she felt the guards grab her from behind, she kicked her knee up and hit the man below in the groin. He gave a yelp and curled up into the fetal position as he began gasping for air. That’s what the idiot got for putting her into the terrible situation. She felt the guards roughly bind up her hands as they pulled her up onto her feet.

“Look at what we caught, boys!”exclaimed the Western guard with hay colored hair and blue eyes when he and his partner pulled up the man Q had mistaken for Minho. “Little Lucas Wong with a lady love.”

Q groaned as she felt a guard pull her mask off of her. A look of recognition crossed Lucas’s face as he locked eyes with Q. The left side of his face had streaks of dirt stained on him. Clearly, Lucas was a local criminal, and now Q was caught up in his mess, the both of them had their hands tied up and were thrown into a carriage.

“I’ll get you out of here,” Lucas mumbled to her as they sat next to each other when they had a moment alone. The guards were busy shouting orders at each other, all of them proud to have caught a couple of criminals.

“Who in the hell are you?” Q whispered. A pair of Western guards, one of them a ginger and the other a brunette, entered the carriage and sat across from them.

“My boss knows Minho,” Lucas said, barely moving his lips. They were worried about the guards, who were glaring at them suspiciously. Was Lucas part of Minho’s network of pirates? If so, there was some hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! I really do appreciate every person who has given this fic a read.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Q and Lucas try to escape

It was like she was in a slightly different world. Instead of being locked up by pirates, she was a pirate locked up. Instead of Minho keeping her trapped, she was trapped with a young man who almost resembled Minho. What was worse, she was chained to him. There was a heavy cuff on her left wrist and its twin was on Lucas’s right hand with the thick chain allowing them less than a foot of space apart.

They were thrown into a small holding cell, the bars were thick and there was only one oil lamp at the far end of the hall to give light into the dark room. Lucas and Q were cursing at the guards as chaos seemed to break out. The guards were all shouting and they were squabbling over who had the higher rank. One of the guards shouted that the streets were roaming with pirates looting and raising hell. Every man available had to go out to try to reign in the chaos.

“This is all your fault!” Q said the moment they were alone and she kicked his shin. He groaned and leaned up against the bars of the cell. “All you had to do was be quiet!”

“My name is Lucas,” he said, wincing as he rubbed the spot she kicked. “We haven’t had a proper introduction.”

“You think now is a good time for formalities?” she demanded. She looked around in the shadows and realized the cell was rather small. “Well, _Lucas_ , I can’t say it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m…” She paused. She and Minho had created pseudonyms just in case they were captured, but Lucas had mentioned Minho. Erring on the side of caution, she went with the pseudonym. “I’m Rani.”

“Rani? Ahh, a _Queen_ ,” he said, raising his eyebrows as he came closer to her. “You do look radiating, like a queen.”

She felt her face grow warm. Not only did he read directly into the name Rani, but he called her queen almost as adoringly as Minho did. Even being locked up with no idea on what to do next, Lucas was determined to keep up his efforts at seduction.

“How are you going to get us out of here?” she asked, glancing around the dimly lit cell. There was a window along the stone wall behind Lucas. She walked over, dragging Lucas along, and climbed up the bench and looked out through the barred window. She saw the docks nearby under the bright moonlight, and prayed that Minho was safe.

“Wait,” he said with a relaxed smile as they sat down on the bench beside each other. “You are Minho’s lady...uh...partner, right?” The way he asked, he seemed excited, like he was meeting a member of the Royal family. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly.

“How do you know Minho?” she asked. 

“I told you,” he said, “my boss knows Minho. Once my boss gets us out of here, we should be able to break this chain on our ship.”

Q shook her head slightly as she listened to him rattle on. She was going to die in the cell with Lucas as company. There was no way in which she could escape. Right as she was about to stand up, Q gasped as one of the stones on the floor began to shake. Lucas got up, tugging Q painfully to follow him. The stone lifted off the floor and Lucas grabbed one corner of the stone and pushed it. There was a hole under the floor of the cell and a man who looked younger than even Lucas popped his head up from underground, holding a torch in his hand.

“Lucas,” the man said, resting his free arm on the floor, “what fresh hell have you gotten us into now?”

Lucas laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder.

“I knew you would come get us, man,” Lucas said. He looked at Q and said, “Rani, this is Kun, my captain...my boss. Kun, this is Rani. She thought I was Minho!”

Lucas gave a guffaw and Kun shook his head slightly seeing that Lucas and Q were chained together.

“Every fucking time,” Kun said with a groan. “Some new hurdle on our missions. Come on, we’ll help Rani down first and you’ll have to come down before we can put the stone back in place.”

Kun, like Lucas, was made of the toughest material on earth as he and Lucas literally carried her down the small hole under the cell she had just been locked in. Once she and Lucas joined Kun underground, Kun returned to the hole and placed the stone back in place. He grabbed the torch that he’d place on a hook against a wall behind them, and wordlessly motioned for them to follow him.

They were deep underground, the walls were narrow and the only source of light was from Kun’s torch. The air felt thick, and Q took slow, careful breaths while they walked for what felt like hours. After some time, they finally came to a wider area, the air felt less thick, though still musty with dirt. Glancing around, Q realized they were inside a small cave, and she heard the ocean waves crashing loudly nearby, noticing that there were 3 exits they could take.

Kun pointed to the exit to their right, where there were boulders and rocks blocking part of the hole. They would have to crawl over some rocks before making it to the other side of the cave. Before they could make any moves, they all froze and stared at each other as they heard the sounds of feet approaching, though Q couldn’t tell where the sounds were coming from. Instinctively, they all stood with their backs to each other.

“They took your weapons?” Kun asked, handing Lucas a sword.

“All of my knives,” Q spat out bitterly. Wordlessly, Kun handed her a dagger before unsheathing another sword.

“It’s coming from south,” Kun said as he pointed to the exit furthest to the left. “Go!”

Lucas began to climb up the rocks first, and Q groaned as she clung onto wet slippery rocks. The further in they went the louder the sounds of the ocean became. Q felt her lip quiver in anticipation of freedom. Once they hit the end of the tunnel, Q rested her hands onto Lucas’s arm, and took a few deep breaths.

“Shit,” Lucas said and Q looked up to see a Western guard holding a torch in one hand and sword in his other hand.

“This is the end of the line, boys,” the guard said.

Kun swore as he landed next to them and made eye contact with the guard. They all heard the sounds of the other guards making their way through the tunnel. Q took her shot as the sound distracted the guard, and lunged forward and drove the dagger straight down onto the side of his neck. She heard the guard make gurgling noises before she pulled the knife out, and Lucas groaned as the guard fell forward onto him.

“Let’s go!” Kun said quickly, his eyes looking bewildered at having witnessed Q kill a man.

Lucas pushed the body away and they followed Kun toward the sand, the way up to the beach seeming to be the steepest hill Q had ever climbed, and then finally they heard a few voices as Q saw the sight of the beach finally appear. There were two other people standing with torches next to a small boat.

“Go, fast!” Kun shouted as he was now sprinting at a fast pace to meet with their comrades. “Get the boat ready!”

Q’s calves wanted to seize up as Lucas slowed his run for her sake. She felt terrible that she did not have long legs like him, but it didn’t take them long to finally start running into the water. Her hands gripped onto the side of the boat, and she felt three pairs of hands help her up onto the boat with Lucas jumping in immediately after her.

“Lick my dog’s anus!” Lucas screamed with a laugh as they rowed away from the cursing guards.

“Your whore of a mother said my piss tasted of wine!” one of the men who had been waiting for them shouted. As they continued to row away from land he and Lucas yelled profanities at the guards.

“That was a close call, man,” Lucas said with a loud puff of air. “I thought we were going to die twice!”

“Scoundrel!” Q exclaimed as Kun smacked him on the side of the head with an open palm. Q kicked him in the shin again.

“How are you, Rani?” Kun asked, holding up the torch. Genuine concern crossed his face as he looked at her. “We’re not far from the ship. We have a healer on deck.”

“I am not troubled,” she lied. She realized her hand was throbbing and she shook as she saw blood splattered on her hand. “Bl-blood.”

“Are you good at maths?” Kun asked, reaching over and holding her hand in his. He gave her hand a squeeze.

“I’m decent,” she said as Kun leaned forward to keep her eye contact.

“What is 7 multiplied by 9?” she felt him wipe her hand with something damp.

“63,” she replied, her eyes concentrated on his brown eyes.

“Divided by 3?”

She thought about it for a moment since she hadn’t done division in such a long time.

“21.”

“Was that the first man you had to kill?” he asked.

“My third,” she said, taking in a shaky breath. “I thought I would be prepared this time.”  
  
“It’s different for everyone,” Kun replied with patience. “You had to save our lives, and I’m grateful that you did.”

“As am I,” Lucas said, and she felt him place a hand on her knee. She gave a numb nod of her head. Her adrenaline rush was crashing and her body shook. “May I?” He motioned for her to sit in his lap.

“Wh-what do you mean?” she asked, staring at the faces of the four men staring back at her. They all looked like they were all younger than her, and yet she felt like they were the ones caring for her like parents would a hurting child.

“Physical contact,” he said. “A hug. It can calm you. You can cry. Yangyang won’t make fun of you.”

“Never with a lady,” the young man who had yelled profanities with Lucas spoke up. “We all cry, and killing an imperialist motherfucker can mess with all of us.”

They all laughed, and Q got up to spin her body around so that Lucas’s right hand and her left hand could comfortably rest in her lap. She didn’t know this stranger who smelt of oranges and tobacco, but his body was warm and his arms were secure. She sniffled and wiped her eyes and nose with the hem of her dress as she cried.

She cried just because she was scared, because she was relieved that she had narrowly escaped imprisonment and death. She cried because her body hurt. She cried because she was surrounded by strangers and did not know how much she could trust any of them. She cried as she prayed to God to forgive her for having taken another man’s life. She did not ask for the life that had been given to her, and she wanted to demand what test He was putting her through by handing her a life in which she had to commit sin after sin to survive?

***

The bed felt warm, and very comfortable. Q opened her eyes and groaned as she realized that everything that happened the night before had been real. She sat up and saw that she was in bed with Lucas, their arms still chained together. He was sleeping peacefully on his back, his head faced away from her. They were in a cabin on a ship, a small window behind their bed gave light into the room.

She stared at her hands, which were clean, though she saw bruises and cuts on her fingers and on her knuckles. Her hands shook and she was overcome with the thoughts of the panic and fear that overcame her when she stabbed the guard the night before. She could remember the shine in his eyes when she’d stabbed him, and she shut her eyes as she tried to think of a different image.

“Rani,” she heard Lucas mumble. His hands cupped her cheeks and she opened her eyes to see his tired but open brown eyes staring deeply into hers. “Rani, what day is your birthday?”

“My-my birthday?” she asked through her dry sobs. “May 14.”

“And your favorite color?”

“Red.”

“A superstition you believe?”

“Black cats bring bad luck.”

“That’s a mean superstition to hold,” he said, frowning slightly. “All animals deserve love.”

“I came across a black cat as a child and I broke my leg,” she replied. “And worst of all, I saw a black cat near a willow tree right before I was taken by pirates.”

“Oh,” he said, looking surprised. “You were kidnapped and became a pirate?”

“I wasn’t worth much so the captain put me to work,” Q lied, realizing she had slipped a truth about herself she wasn’t supposed to reveal.

Lucas looked down at the front of her dress and she tried hiding her body behind the bed sheets.

“Why would Minho kidnap you and make you a pirate?” Lucas asked, seeming to be in thought. “He’s always captured women to sell off to brothels.”

“Minho?” Q asked. “As in the Incheon Pirate Lord Minho?” For as long as Q had been with Minho they’d never taken any women to sell off to brothels.

“Are you awake?” they heard a voice ask. The door opened and the two men on the boat the night before walked in with a woman with light brown hair, and tanned skin.

“You look much better, Rani,” the man who had a foul mouth said. “I’m Yangyang. Our friend from last night, if you remember, is Hendery, and this our healer, Mina.”

“Sorry we couldn’t unchain you,” Hendery spoke up.

“I wrapped your wrists with linen,” Mina spoke up, brushing her frizzy hair out of her face. “Your wrists must hurt from the contact.”

“It’ll do for now,” Q replied. “Are we moving?”

“No,” Hendery replied as Yangyang and Mina left the cabin together. He sat at the foot of the bed. “We’re hiding on an island. We’re meeting with a couple of our other guys who had their own detour. Once they get here our lock-pick man will free you two.”

“Have you had correspondence with Minho?” she asked.

“No,” Hendery said, his gaze averting to the ground. “That’s something Kun would know more about. I’m going to get him.”

He left right before Yangyang and Mina returned. Yangyang handed them flasks and Mina held a couple bananas and some meat jerky. The jerky meat was dry, but Q was just grateful to have something to chew. Lucas seemed to feel the same as he ate without complaint.

“Can you walk?” Yangyang asked. “Maybe fresh air and sunlight will do you two some good.”

“I can walk,” Q said softly as she pushed Lucas’s hands away from her waist as she swayed slightly. “It’s just the motion of the boat.”

The ship they were on was a well kept ship, though a little small. But given the small crew, it seemed to do its job well. Q didn’t get motion sickness easily, but her stomach danced dangerously into knots as she followed Yangyang and Mina to the top deck of the ship. There she saw Kun and Hendery talking with another man, he was shorter than the other two men, but he was just as good looking and youthful as the members on the ship.

“How do you feel, Rani?” Kun asked.

“Better than last night,” was the most honest she could be. “Thank you for all that you have done. I can write a letter to Minho to let him know how you all helped me.”

“You’re going to write a letter to Minho?” the man Q hadn’t met before asked, confused.

“Rani, this is Xaoijun,” Kun said, pointing to the man. “You and I can have a private conversation about what we’re going to write to Minho once we get back to sailing out west.”

“Ten and Winwin are almost here,” Hendery said, pointing to a small boat not far away rowing toward them from around behind a curve of the island the ship was docked at.

Q felt her body tense up as she noticed that one of the men on the boat was dressed in red, and he was waving a mask covered in red feathers. She stood up and pulled a small paring knife off the table nearby and pulled it up to Lucas’s neck, wrapping her left arm around his neck.

“Who the hell are you people?” she demanded in Lucas’s ear.

Everyone froze once the phoenix masked man and his partner were on the ship with the rest of them and they all saw Q pressing a knife into Lucas’s neck.

“Oh, fucking hell,” the phoenix masked man said as he made eye contact with Q.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated my tags, etc. Thank you for reading, always!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Q learns a little more about WayV

“Tell me your scheme or I take his life and mine and you’re left with nothing but Minho’s rage!” Q screamed. She was tired. She’d been spending her whole life not knowing what the world had in store for her, and time and time again she was punished for it.

“My name,” the phoenix masked man said, holding his hands up, showing to her he meant her no harm, “is Ten. I work with the captain of the WayV pirate ship. You know my captain, Kun. I have no idea how you and I are meeting again, but I swear to you we did not scheme for you to end up here.”

“You’ve met?” Kun asked, looking from Ten to Q and back.

“I mistook her for a legitimate target,” Ten said. “Look, you didn’t tell us there were others scheming.”

“If I told you, you’d all be too distracted to do your jobs,” Kun said. “All we were supposed to do was pickpocket and I end up with Lucas chained to a pirate, and you and Winwin outrunning the British Navy!”

Lucas grunted as Q stepped back, dragging Lucas with her. Yangyang and Mina were closest to them, and Yangyang put his hand onto the hilt of his sword as he stepped in front of Mina.

“Stand down!” Kun said tensely. “Rani, we’ve to ready this ship to sail. There’s no guarantee Ten and Winwin were able to shake off the enemy.”

“Let them come and slaughter us all,” Q said as she felt tears form at her eyes. Her hands shook.

She gasped as Lucas grabbed her wrist and took the paring knife from her hand.

“Stand back,” he said gently as his comrades began to make motions toward them. “She’s gone through enough.”

“Let’s get going, you scallywags!” Kun ordered.

All bodies began rushing around the ship, and Q felt Lucas walk her back to where they came, back down toward the cabins. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, angry with herself for acting like a damsel in distress. Minho was not there to hold her in his arms as he spoke soothing words into her ears. He was not there to distract her from her pain.

She felt her stomach turn as she fell onto the bed sitting at the foot of the bed. Lucas sat beside her, and she rested her hands on his arms to turn and face him. He looked concerned, and she could only close her eyes and rest her head against his chest. She sniffled and groaned in mortification. He chuckled and she felt his hands wrap around her waist, and she moved her left hand to touch his wrist, so that neither of them would accidentally hurt each other by pulling on the chain.

“Queen,” he said softly as he brushed away the last of her tears with the back of his thumb. His eyes were nearly closed as they stared at her lips. Her body shifted in closer to his as his arms slowly pulled her closer into his embrace.

She closed her eyes and gave a sigh of relief into his lips as they kissed. Her right hand caressed his neck, and she pushed her tongue into his mouth. She moaned softly as she felt his tongue push back.

“Don’t stop,” she panted, breaking from the kiss as she felt his hand reach under her dress. His fingers were trembling slightly as they slid up her thigh. “Lord, do not stop.”

The pleasurable warmth Lucas was giving to her body was the only thing Q found good, and she needed to hold onto it. Anything outside of their physical intimacy was too painful to face, and Q wanted to be rid of the cruel world. She bit her lip and closed her eyes as she thought of Minho’s clear brown eyes piercing into hers as his tongue would taste her breasts, always teasing her nipples.

“Lick my tits,” she demanded, feeling around for his face. Her hands touched his shoulders. She felt him plant wet kisses onto the exposed flesh of her breasts, and she moaned softly as he reached under her clothing and did what Minho could not, pulling her tits out of her dress.

She laid down onto her back while he pulled her legs apart, hooking them over his lower back as he settled himself between her legs. She gave a sharp inhale of air as she felt his tongue flick her nipple. Opening her eyes, she felt her insides grow warm watching Lucas smile as he moved to lick her other nipple. His lips sucked onto her nipple as he made eye contact with her, and she moaned, throwing her hand up to grab his hair.

“I like your moans,” he said, amused, coming up to rest his body over hers. “Your tits taste like coconuts.”

“Kiss me,” she said, her body growing hot. Every time he spoke, she was reminded that he was not Minho.

They kissed and it was his turn to start moaning as Q’s hands reached down to touch Lucas’s growing erection. His eyes grew large as she squeezed the length of his manhood with her hand. She planted a kiss on his neck and her body shook as he closed his eyes.

“Slide your cock against me,” she ordered. She wanted him inside of her, but try as she might, she could not fool herself into buying that Lucas was Minho. Her guilt was bearable doing what she had done so far with Lucas, but to have him inside of her would be too much. “Don’t fuck me, just slide your cock on my slit.”

He grunted and slammed his lips against hers, his tongue pushing hard into her mouth. She returned the sloppy kiss, and moaned into his lips as she felt the hot bare flesh of his hard cock push up against the wet aching bud of her exposed folds. He thrust his hips in a maddening pace as his cock slid against her wet core, and she moaned against Lucas’s lips as she felt his thumb rubbing her pink bud in slow circles. A tidal wave of pleasure rode up her body. She broke from their kiss and moaned his name, ending it with a high pitched whimper as he returned to sliding his cock against her.

She grabbed his neck and pulled him in for a kiss as she felt her orgasm come. She shut her eyes as her body tensed while she let her orgasm wash over her. Lucas sat up, and she was breathing heavily as she grabbed onto his tunic to sit up. She kissed his neck and wrapped her hand around his cock. He groaned, throwing his head back as she began to pump it, squeezing his veiny cock as she stroked up.

“Fuck,” he groaned, opening his eyes to look at Q lean down and kiss the pink tip of his cock. He shuddered and smiled at seeing her kiss him. She returned the smile as she realized that Lucas had never had a blowjob before, much less know that a mouth could be used on a cock. Holding his cock in her hand, Q licked the tip before putting it in her mouth. He groaned and came undone as Q’s tongue licked his tip while her lips sucked on it.

He fell flat onto his back as his hips jerked up. Q shut her eyes as she felt his hot seed shoot into her mouth. She swallowed and tried her best to lick his cock clean. She sat next to him, her hand stroking his thigh. He was looking at her with a soft grin.

“You use your mouth to pleasure a man?” he asked at last. He sat up and fixed his breeches.

“You’ve never had that done on your manhood?” she asked in response. “You know, you can have a woman know nothing but your name if you use your hands and mouth on her in the right way.”

Lucas stopped tying his breeches to stare at Q as she fixed the front of her dress. She gave him an innocent smile as he smiled at her. He raised his eyebrows, and opened his mouth to say something, but the door to the cabin opened and Ten walked in with Kun behind him.

“I apologize for what happened earlier,” Kun said as he and Ten watched Lucas and Q sitting at the foot of the bed together. “I had no idea you ran into Ten last night.”

“And that was a mistake,” Ten added. “Really, I thought you were a wealthy couple in need of having your money stolen, nothing more. Sounds like you and Lucas had a busy night.”

Lucas laughed a little too enthusiastically and held up his chained arm.

“Can you unlock us?” he asked. “My wrist hurts.”

“Before we do,” Kun said, holding up a hand, “Rani, you and I need to start being honest with each other. I’ll start. Like Ten said, I am the captain of the WayV ship. We started here in Hong Kong, but we’re working our way further out. I know someone I’ve done some jobs with. We’re essentially on the same team, you and I.”

“Then why do you all act strange when I bring up Minho?” Q asked. “I haven’t lied to you that I will tell Minho how you all have helped me, but it’s hard to trust you when you tricked me to come here.”

“I did not lie,” Lucas spoke up. “We do know Minho.”

“It’s just,” Ten spoke up, “you might not like how we know him.”

“Are you enemies?” Q asked, feeling a little tense.

“Q,” Kun said, surprising her so much, her full attention was on him, “I know you’re actually known as Q, because Key tells us all the time how much Minho talks about you.”

“You work for Key?” Q felt her heartbeat quicken.

“He and I have done work together,” Kun said with a nod. His guarded response made it clear to Q that he knew of Minho and Key’s volatile relationship. Even having never met Key, the stories she heard of the famed Almighty Key let Q know that Minho kept Key at a distance for a reason. “I’ve been working on getting Key and his partners’ attention. We offered to do the petty stuff last night, and I apologize that you were caught up in it. I got a letter from Key. We’re taking you to meet him.”

“Why not just take me to Minho?” she asked.

“He’ll have our heads,” Ten spoke up.

Q understood. Key didn’t tell Minho about the WayV crew doing the pick-pocketing, and that element of the heist not only compromised the job, but had the whole thing gone off without a hitch, Key hadn’t told Minho about another revenue and Key would have kept the earnings between him and the WayV crew. For such strapping strong pirates of the seas, their egos could often be much more fragile than even rose petals.

“I beseech you,” Kun said as he sat next to Q, “if you can help sort this mess we created, we will be indebted to you, and I promise you, I will be your friend and loyal ally after you saved our lives last night.”

Q bit her lip and thought about the ways Minho often spoke of Key. Key was hard headed and always prepared to antagonize Minho. She hadn’t the slightest clue what Key thought of her. Would he even want to see the woman who stood beside Minho? She felt her cheeks grow warm as she looked over at Lucas. Minho would castrate Lucas if he were to find out what happened in the cabin. As for her, she knew Minho would punish her in a way she would not be able to predict beyond it would hurt her greatly.

“I will speak with Key,” she said at last. “I have never met him, and I do not know if he even has any opinion on me, but I will try my best to let him know that I appreciate all that you have done for me.”

She looked at Kun, and thought about him grabbing her hand in the boat. He had calmed her down, and he had been the one to literally carry her out of the cell. Indeed, despite everything, she would not be sitting with him and having a civil conversation if not for him. Kun had more than earned her respect, and she reached over and took his hand into her own. It would be wise to have Kun as a loyal ally.

“We should reach our destination in a few days,” Kun said, standing up and giving Q’s hand a comforting squeeze before releasing it, “so long as the weather stays on our side.”

“Can I free them?” Ten asked. Kun nodded and left.

Q said nothing as she watched Ten use some thin metal tools and picked around the keyholes. He gave a playful shrug of his shoulders as Lucas thanked him for freeing them. Lucas groaned loudly as he massaged and flexed his newly freed wrist. She nodded at Ten, unable to say anything to him. She could not quite forgive him just yet. If he had not taken her for a mark, she would not be in such a mess.

“All hands on deck,” Ten said before leaving Lucas and Q alone.

“Lucas,” Q said as she placed a hand on his knee to keep him seated on the bed with her, “while I am grateful for you taking care of me, I hope you understand the error in speaking of what happened between us?”

“Error?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowing. She groaned. There was no reason to speak in riddles with this boy.

“Minho will hurt you if he hears that you have laid your hands on me,” she said. “He will punish me, too. Please understand, I do not want to see either of us hurt.”

“Oh,” he said with a grin. She frowned. How else was she supposed to say this to get this through his thick skull? Before she could say another word, Lucas laughed and said, “You think it’s easy to stay away from me?” He chuckled and looked at her as he did right before they’d first kissed. “I won’t say anything, but I hope you know that I will never say no if you ask me to please you in any way.”

“You need to stop,” she said sternly. She stood up and walked out of the cabin, feeling heat hit her neck as Lucas continually bit his bottom lip, chuckling. “You think it’s a woman who cannot keep herself composed?”

“Like I said,” he said, following her, “I will never say no to you.”

Her pink bud throbbed angrily as she stood face to face with Lucas, their bodies half an inch away from touching, and the scent of oranges and tobacco filled her senses. His eyes were focused on her lips, and he smiled as ran his hand through his hair, the winds trying to push them over his eyes. She bit the inside of her cheek and sidled away from Lucas. She rubbed her left wrist and prayed to God to give her the strength to be faithful to Minho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated tags! Sorry if I miss any tags! Thank you so much for reading, as always!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Q to meet Key, but they encounter a new pirate first

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated my tags!

On her 4th day with the WayV crew, Q felt a strong camaraderie with Kun’s crew. All the men were high spirited in their eager youth to prove themselves, and Mina was a calm presence. Q learned that Mina had been charged as a witch and set to be hanged before the WayV crew came to liberate the prisoners in Shanghai. She’d run into Yangyang and saved his life as he had been stabbed by a Japanese guard. With nowhere to go, and Kun understanding how vital a healer could be, Mina was welcomed onto his ship. Q was impressed with Kun’s knack of utilizing others’ best qualities. 

“We’re meeting Key inside the Bubble,” Kun announced to the crew when Q was helping Yangyang braid his hair that morning. “Yuta’s on guard.”

“Lucas, it’s your turn,” Hendery said with a snort. “Good luck, man.”

“500 British pounds is too much,” Kun said.

There were access points to gain access to the Pirate Bubble. Certain ships would stay on watch duty to welcome allies or cause distractions to keep enemies well away from this undiscovered portion of the seas. When Q first learned of how the Pirate Bubble network was operated, she realized that Minho belonged to a large underground network. She still did not know how large the whole network was, but she had heard of the Osaka Pirate Prince.

Yuta was ruthless in his assaults when he sailed the seas, and had a strong, dedicated crew. He also had a strange sense of humor. Most people at the access points simply demanded for some kind of treasure or payment, but Yuta was always precise with granting access. It was always treasure that could be deemed to be worth around 500 British pounds or a round of hand-to-hand combat.

“Hey, I can beat him!” Lucas said with confidence, finishing his last bite of jerky meat.

“You didn’t even last the entire thing the last time you fought him,” Xiaojun called out, stepping away from some ropes he’d been tying down. “Five minutes, and you lasted for 1.”

“It was 2 minutes!” Lucas argued childishly.

Kun, Ten, Hendery, and Xiaojun all began talking over each other, calling Lucas out. He’d lasted longer than a minute but was knocked out before he could reach his second minute being beaten by Yuta. Q laughed, appreciating the childish and enduring nature of this crew’s dynamics.

“Kun!” Yangyang called out as he stood up. “I think I’m ready for hand-to-hand combat.”

Lucas burst out into a loud guffaw.

“Are you sure?” Kun asked. “Yuta prefers karate or tae kwon do. He’s not always in the mood for a duel, though, I should warn you, I’ve seen him with a sword. He’s good.”

“I’m going in prepared to win,” Yangyang said, standing up straight. “Even if I don’t win, at least I’ll buy Lucas some time.”

“Hey,” Lucas sounded offended, “I don’t need a warm up. I can beat Yuta.”

“Yangyang’s proven himself capable to take on a new task,” Kun said, nodding his head.

“Xiaojun, even Yangyang is more capable than you,” Ten pointed out. Xiaojun’s eyes narrowed and he took in a deep breath, but Ten continued, “I mean, just combat-wise. You’re always on top of our inventory.”

“I’m ready for combat!” Xiaojun burst out. Winwin stood up and gave a loud, sarcastic belly laugh.

“You got mad that Lucas and I didn’t go easy on you when we were doing kung fu with those gangsters in Hong Kong,” Winwin said, slapping Xiaojun’s shoulder.

“I told you I didn’t even want to learn kung fu!” Xiaojun said defensively.

“Oh, but you’re ready to take on Yuta?” Ten said with a chortle.

“Fine!” Xiaojun said, throwing his arms up into the air. “I only meant, what does it matter your age to start volunteering for combat? I respect those younger than me volunteering, but how does it reflect badly on me?”

The men all laughed like brothers as they continued to tease Xiaojun, who left to go below deck. Like clockwork, not 20 minutes later, Xiaojun was pouring tea he made for the whole crew. Xiaojun was often picked on, Q noticed, but he was always the mood setter and took the role seriously, making sure everyone felt comfortable to keep their minds off the stresses that were soon to approach.

Winwin climbed up a large pole and began signaling with his arms as they came close to the borders of the Pirate Bubble. They heard 3 whistles, and the rest of the WayV crew steered the ship to slow down as another ship came into view. A man with silver hair wearing a loose, white tunic and brown leather breeches stood at the front of the ship and walked to meet with Kun as the ships were parked beside each other. The silver haired man had a black eye patch over his left eye, and he held up a rapier.

“500 pounds or a duel,” was the man’s greeting. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you in combat, Kun. It would be a fun exercise.”

“Have things been well?” Kun asked. “I’ve only had correspondence with Key.”

“My crew is doing well,” Yuta said with a casual shrug. “Key will have more information than I do.”

“Of course,” Kun said. “Yangyang! You’ve improved your form. Show the Osaka Prince what WayV’s made of.”

“Good luck,” Mina said softly to Yangyang.

Q smiled as she watched Yangyang take Mina’s hand and kiss it before saying, “I dedicate this to you.”

She had never had an opportunity to experience the sort of courtship Mina and Yangyang were enjoying, and silently encouraged the pair to flirt. Based on the gossip Lucas provided her, Mina had liked Yangyang the moment they’d met. Yangyang and Mina had only been 16 when they met, so Yangyang hadn’t the brains to see that Mina was interested in him. It was not until more recent months that Yangyang seemed to grow closer to Mina.

Lucas nudged Q with his elbow, and he nodded his head subtly at Yuta. She glanced over to see Yuta running his thumb over his bottom lip as he stared unabashedly at Mina. Yangyang looked proud as Mina ran her fingers over the braids in his hair. Now Q understood why he’d asked her to braid his hair. He wanted to make sure he looked just as impressive as Yuta, that was part of Yuta’s signature. Watching Yuta bite his bottom lip before turning his gaze away from Mina, it was obvious that she had captured his attention.

“How long must I stand here before you will greet me, Mina-kun?” Yuta asked.

“It’s nice to see you again, Yuta-san,” Mina said softly. “Are you well? I have been able to find some balms that can help with the pain in your eye.”

“I am well now that I see you are in good health,” he replied. “My crew will be off duty by tomorrow.”

“Are we going to duel?” Yangyang said with a calm voice, though his eyes could not betray his disdain toward Yuta.

“Let us prepare on my ship,” Yuta said, motioning for one of his men to swing a rope over so Yangyang could swing over onto his ship.

“Lucas, Hendery, and Ten,” Kun called the men who would join Yangyang for the duel.

“Yangyang will not be hurt, will he?” Mina asked as she walked over to stand beside Winwin and took his hand into her own.

“Yangyang will not lose,” Winwin assured Mina, patting her hair as a big brother would to a younger sister.

Yuta and Yangyang were skilled swordsmen as they used the large space of the deck to go back and forth. Yuta was strong but Yangyang was agile. Kun encouraged Yangyang with positive words of encouragement, reminding him not to fight the uneven motions of the ocean’s currents that caused the ships to sway. Yangyang seemed to be having fun as he had Yuta chase after him as he deflected a blow from Yuta and spun around to change the direction of his movements.

“Five minutes!” one of Yuta’s men said loudly when Yangyang had Yuta leaning up against the side of his ship. “Yangyang has won safe passage!”

Yuta huffed angrily as Yangyang stepped away and sheathed his sword. He bowed his head as Yangyang bowed to him, a sign of respect to the sportsmanship between them. Once Kun’s men were back on their ship and Yuta’s ship granted them permission to continue, Lucas gave Q a knowing smile. So it had been Yuta who had given Yangyang reason to start wooing Mina.

After no more than 2 hours, they approached a small island Q had never seen before in her life. When they made it to the end of the docks and onto the beach of the island, a slender man with short black hair met them. He had a black cat in his arms and he was stroking it lovingly. Q bit the inside of her cheek nervously. She was afraid of what this black cat meant.

“Key, thank you for the invitation,” Kun said as the two men gripped onto each other’s arms in greeting. “We’ve come with gifts.”

Hendery and Lucas carried a large wooden chest and set it down next to where Kun stood. Key nodded his head, and gave a shrug.

“Great,” he said. “We’ll have some servants bring it in. So am I going to meet Minho’s little birdie now?”

“Of course,” Kun replied. He held his hand out to Q and she took it as she walked to stand next to him. “Key, this is Q. Q this is Key. I believe you two have much to talk about.”

“My crew will help you with anything you need,” Key said to Kun’s crew, motioning his hand toward the palace that was within view from the beach. “Kun and Q, please come with me. You trust Kun, yes?”  
  
“With my life,” Q replied as Key made eye contact with her.

“Hm,” Key said as he observed Q, scratching his cat’s neck. “I enjoy writing poetry outdoors, so I built a gazebo near the edge of the cliff on the north end of the island. I have a desk and chair there, and the best days are when the winds make water beat on that island of boulders over there.”

Key was leading them toward a grassy clearing near the palace, but the grassy clearing sloped up into a hill. At the top of the hill was the gazebo Key spoke of with the single desk and chair. She and Kun followed Key to the gazebo. Once they came close to the gazebo, Key asked Kun to stay behind and help himself to the apples that were growing on a tree nearby, far enough from the gazebo that he would not overhear Key and Q’s conversation. As they stood alone under the shade of the gazebo, Key evaluated Q from head to toe.

“You know,” Key began as he looked out toward the small island of boulders he’d spoken of that sat nearby his island, “when we were young, I asked Minho to describe his favorite fruit and all he said was, ‘Orange,’ and we all thought he meant oranges when he was describing a mango. ‘But the flesh is orange sometimes,’” Key imitated Minho’s tone. “And yet the only thing he’s ever described well is you. Green eyes, a small splash of freckles on the apple of your left cheek and a prominent cupid’s bow. Your lips are indeed very pretty.”

“Minho never wanted me to meet you,” Q said, liking Key very much. “I’m angry that we had to meet this way.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure he didn’t want us to meet,” Key said with a shrug. “His whole strapping, strong manly man facade would come crumbling down once I exposed his secrets.”

“He tells me that you bring out the worst in each other and it would not be pleasant for me to watch it,” Q said. “But I would not mind knowing some of his secrets.”

“Oh,” Key said, a devilish smirk crossing his lips, “ask yourself why Minho decided to keep you around instead of selling you off to a brothel?”  
  
“You are the second person to tell me this,” Q said. “I do not believe you. All the work I’ve done with Minho did not involve capturing women and selling them off.”

“He does it when you’re not around,” Key said simply, as if Q was dimwitted not to see such an obvious thing. “Minho is known as the Incheon Prince due to his habit of laying with women before selling them off. Yuta, the Osaka Prince, has that reputation, too. What ‘princes’ they are, huh?”

“Are you saying Minho is still laying with other women?”

“Oh goodness,” Key said with a sigh. “He’s a pirate lord and you’re upset he isn’t faithful to you?”

“I’m not upset about that,” Q said, feeling defensive. “Now that I stand here with you, I...have to confess, I have felt unsettled about something, but I didn’t have anyone to speak to.”

“Don’t hold me in suspense,” Key said.

“Minho told me that he would not kill me because I am worth more alive than dead,” Q said, “and yet, I was told that we had to kill my old identity, make others believe Tiye died. I have wondered what Minho will do to me once he finds out who set the whole plot up. He tells me we will be together, always, but if I am worth more alive than dead, what will he do with me while my life is worth a fortune?”

“You’ve never asked him?”  
  
“Early on, I feared for my life, so I didn’t ask, and after some time, my mind could no longer keep asking a question in which I had no clue had any answers, so I stopped asking. But now-”  
  
“Key!” Kun called out, waving his arms. “Word is Minho is on his way here!”

“Fucking hell,” Key sighed with exasperation. “I wanted some more alone time with you, but I suppose Yuta was incentivized to alert Minho.”

“Kun and WayV,” Q said quickly. “Key, no harm must come to them. I understand Ten and Lucas made a mess of the heist, but we all owe Kun our lives.”

“Well, you’ll have to talk to your lover boy about it,” Key replied. “I’ve known WayV for a couple years now, and I understand what it means to be an ally with Kun. Minho won’t listen to me. If I was a man who liked to wager, I would put everything on Minho accusing me of setting everything up to take him down. Come, it’s best we meet him on the docks.”

Q felt herself shaking as she thought of seeing Minho again. Her brief conversation with Key had unsettled Q once again, but knowing that she could depend on Kun and his crew no matter what was to come did not set her off into despair. She did worry about how Minho would react to meeting Kun and his chaotic crew.

“Whatever happens,” Key said as they walked back toward the beach, “look out for yourself. You owe Minho nothing, despite what you might believe.”

“Thank you,” Q said as Kun offered his arm to her and they walked down the grassy hill. She held onto his arm and said, “I worry Minho will start throwing his fists at Ten.”

“Ten is capable,” Kun replied. “He has 6 brothers to help him if things get out of hand.”

“Lord, someone bring me a goblet of wine and a bowl of dragonfruit,” Key requested with an impatient huff as Minho’s ship came closer.

“Are you well?” Kun asked as Q fell down to her knees in the sand, her mind spinning. “We need water!”

“I need,” Q said weakly, “a moment.”

She wanted to see Minho all the while wishing she could just stay with Kun’s crew and never see him again. Seeing Lucas rush to her side as he and Kun helped her to her feet, Q was overcome with the guilt of knowing what she had done with Lucas. Even if Lucas assured her that she needed to relieve some strong emotions, it was not an excuse to show another man a side of her she’d only ever given to Minho.

“Water,” Kun said to Lucas as he pulled Q up to her feet. “Q, multiply 7 by 15.”

“105.”

“Multiply that by 3,” he said, directing her gaze to his. “Focus on my eyes.”

“315.”  
  
“Add those three digits individually together. 3 plus 1 plus 5.”

“9.”

“Good,” Kun said, patting her shoulder. “What fruit would you force Ten to eat?”

“A mango,” she replied with a laugh. “The flesh is orange sometimes.”

“What does that mean?” Kun asked and they heard Key snicker.

“You truly do love that imbecile, don’t you?” Key said as he and Q met each other’s gaze.

“Thank you, Kun,” Q said as she patted his arm, holding onto it as her legs still felt weak.

She looked over to see Minho and a couple of his crew members walking on the docks toward them. Minho's eyes were scanning the faces on the beach and she felt herself let go of Kun as her eyes locked with Minho’s. Together, they both began sprinting toward each other. The wooden slates shook dangerously as she came closer to Minho, the vibrations of their feet pounding the floor shaking the docks.

His hands grabbed her hips as she threw her arms over his shoulders to wrap around his neck, and she let out a cry as their bodies slammed together. She shut her eyes as she felt Minho’s arms wrap around her waist, and he squeezed her tight. Running her fingers through his hair, she felt a sob escape her mouth and she groaned before biting down on her bottom lip. She wasn’t going to be a crying mess again. Minho grabbed her by her cheeks and pulled Q’s face to look into his. She reached up and stroked his cheek with the pad of her thumb, feeling the sounds of the waves crashing wash over her senses as she stared deeply into his loving clear brown eyes.

“I can’t stand for this,” Minho said, and grabbed Q’s hand before walking toward the beach. “We’ll meet in your library before dinner,” he said to Key, as they approached Key.

“Is that how you greet your respected partner?” Key demanded. He rolled his eyes as Minho did not bother to slow his walk as he led Q toward Key’s palace. “Go on, you brute. Use my palace as yours.”

Q shyly hid her face into Minho’s arm as she realized that everyone on the beach knew that Minho was taking her to go lay with him. The only person who made her whole body warm up in bashfulness was Lucas, though. Even without looking at him, she could feel his eyes on her as she left in the arms of her lover.

“Let’s enjoy lunch outside!” Key announced. “Let’s celebrate Yangyang beating Yuta!”

The sounds of everyone else enjoying lunch outdoors with Key faded as Minho rushed Q indoors, his pace quick. Q was half running to keep up with Minho, his hand holding on tightly to hers. She squeezed his hand, appreciating their fingers intertwined together. A flash of nauseating guilt overcame her for a moment as she remembered what Lucas’s fingers felt like compared to Minho’s.

Q gasped as Minho pushed her onto the bed once he’d opened the door to a room at the far east end of the palace. The bed was large and laid with red silk sheets. It did not shock Q that Key lived in opulence, but she forgot about the decor when she heard Minho slam the door shut behind him.

“There’s no need to be so rough,” Q said, turning around to lie down on her back, resting the weight of her upper body onto her propped up elbows.

Minho sat down on the bed and wordlessly began removing her clothes off of her. She reached over and helped him remove his own clothes. The heat in the room grew quickly as her hands grabbed his arms, massaging his skin. She closed her eyes and took in a deep inhale of air as she felt his body over hers with his lips softly kissing her neck.

They kissed a moment later, and Q moaned against Minho’s lips as she felt a hand grab her breast. His fingers teased her nipple as he squeezed it and flicked it, going back and forth on his technique. Her insides shook as the sensations of Minho’s fingers teasing her breasts sent blood rushing into her groin. As she pushed her tongue into his mouth, Q’s hands went down and squeezed Minho’s nipples with her fingers, her turn to tease his body.

He broke their kiss and groaned as he threw his head up into the air. She leaned up and licked Minho’s nipple, placing her hand onto his shoulder for leverage. She sucked on it before leaving a couple soft wet kisses, moving over to give his other nipple the same kind of attention. He cupped her chin into his hand, and directed her to kiss him again, and she moaned against his lips as she felt the head of his cock rub against her core. Minho kissed her neck and then her shoulder as she ran her hand through his hair, encouraging his mouth to keep kissing her body.

“I want you, Minho,” she breathed out as his cock continued to tease her slit. “I’m so wet, so hot, for you.”

“Can you handle it?” he asked softly before biting down onto her breast, grazing his teeth against her nipple. She moaned as she arched her back.

“Yes,” she panted, wrapping her arms around his neck, drawing him closer to her. She licked his earlobe before capturing it into her mouth and she began sucking gently on it. Minho moaned and swore before he slowly entered her.

They loosened their hold on each other and moved to kiss. She moaned against his lips as he thrust in a little deeper, feeling the familiar and exquisite pressure of Minho’s large cock inside of her. He moaned against her lips as he pushed in a little deeper. She opened her eyes and widened her mouth a little more, letting Minho shove his tongue aggressively into hers’. Her tongue pushed back, and she giggled as Minho opened his eyes and they locked eyes. She moaned and shut her eyes tight when she felt Minho push himself all the way, balls deep into her.

"Fuck, you're so tight," he swore as he intertwined the fingers of his right hand with her left, and pulled out before plunging back in. She moaned as she felt the pressure of Minho’s cock deep inside of her, sending waves of unabated heat coursing through her body. They kissed as he began a slow, deep rhythm, and her eyebrows furrowed together as the sensations of Minho’s cock pumping in and out of her caused a shiver down her spine.

“Minho!” she said, out of breath, when she broke from their kiss with her orgasm so close. “Minho!”

He quickened his pace, and she squeezed Minho’s hand tighter as she felt her insides twitch. They kissed as she screamed her orgasm into his mouth. She shut her eyes as her hips shook from her orgasm. She made a sweet moan against his mouth, her tongue playfully pushing back against his. Opening her eyes, Q saw Minho’s eyes shut tight, his own release approaching.

She continued to kiss him, and moaned into his lips for his benefit. Minho broke their kiss, and gave a couple hard pumps as he looked deep into her eyes. He released her hand before grabbing her knees with both hands, and she moaned as he spread her legs apart wider. He angled himself up slightly, and groaned as he thrust in deeper, pumping for a few moments before his release came. Her hips shook as she felt the heat of his seed spill inside of her. They kissed once Minho pulled out of her, and he moved so they were lying beside each other on the bed.

After a few minutes, Q sat up, tired of hearing the lively chatter of the people enjoying lunch outside. She got up and walked over the windows and shut them before drawing up the curtains, leaving the room dark and cold. The noises outside were muffled greatly, which she preferred. Minho slowly slid off the bed and walked over to the fireplace in the room and lit up a log to warm up the room. He sat at the foot of the bed and stared at the fire. Q marveled at Minho's muscular shoulders from behind, and crawled over to touch the curves of his shoulders and the back of his neck. Unable to stop herself, she stood on her knees and planted wet kisses onto the back of his neck. She licked his skin before planting kisses along his shoulder blades.

"Tiye," Minho said in a low growl. He didn't call her by her real name often. She stopped kissing him, and shifted so she could see his face. Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"My love," she said with concern, placing a hand on his cheek as she rested the other on his shoulder. He bowed his head and gave a soft, shy laugh, his cheeks turning warm and pink. She kissed his tear stained cheeks, and pulled him closer to her.

"I almost lost you," he said through his tears.

"We are together now," she assured him, pulling him to rest his head onto her shoulder as she massaged his hair with one hand and stroked his shoulder with her other. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and buried his face into her neck, sending a wave of sensual heat down her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! And I didn't think I would write Pirate!Yuta into this but I did and I don't regret it.


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